Yesterday morning I had my taxes done and my car was very low on gas, I stopped on my way home in an area where I dont usually go and had $20 put in tank.

As soon as I left the station it sputtered a little on the highway, and then by time I got home it was much worse. It felt like my car was running out of gas

My son took me to take my ACT in the afternoon and while I was testing he changed the fuel filter, which did nothing, and he had a hard time getting it started at all.

I have a 99 Astro van, have had ABSOLUTELY NO problems in the past with this car, and no problems at all before pulling into that cheap gas station. In fact this is my second astr because the first was also extremely dependable

any ideas for a single lady?? I hate getting ripped off at the mechanic. dont know who I can trust

A couple years ago, my mom had a similar experience. She then took her car to a "dealership" where they found that that fuel had water in it and needed quite expensive repairs. She talked to the place where she got the gas and got the run-a-round. Thank goodness she works for a County Atty who wrote a nice letter to the mean gas station man that resulted in him paying to replace her motor...

replace my motor???????? I might need that?

what do you do in this kind of situation, complain to BBB?

Ive never had anything like this happen

Hey Sunrise,

You probably have water in your gas due to weather changes. Go buy yourself some "dry gas". You can get it anwwhere--walmart, Meijers, or any automotive place. Follow the directions and it will probably solve your problem. It's the change in weather that causes most cars to run "rough".

Arwen is right - try to somehow keep going till you get to Wally-Mart and then buy about 8 bottles of that stuff, it's called 'Heet' pretty cheap stuff. Like 80 cents a bottle. Put ALL 8 bottles in your car, then find some highway and "open 'er up" - basically, think like a kid again and do some good old fashioned hot-rodding, try to blow that water out of your tank - car might run rough another day maybe, but that Heet really works! Saves you a trip to a mechanic, that's fer sure!
SDLOM

Hi, I put 20$ gas in, so thats about 12 gallons or so.

I just got back from Manny, Moe, and Jack and bought 4 bottles of "The Original" (sounds impressive) Dry gas..do you think 4 bottles are enough?
dont know if I want to try it tonite, its dark now, will it sitting all day yesterday and today hurt it?

Naw, it won't hurt to put it in tonight. But I'd be sure to do a little hot-rodding to burn up some of that watered-down gas.
Happy Trails! (on the highway, that is)
SDLOM

Had to have the car towed

dry gas didnt work

car wont even start

mechanic called

seems that they put diesel fuel in my tank

DOH! 'They?' who is they? I think that 'THEY' need to pay for whatever repairs you require!
I'm sorry you're without wheels. Hopefully, you'll get them back like really soon.
Best of luck to you!
SDLOM
---- Double DOH! The mechanics put Diesel in your tank? How stoopit can one person ('they') get. I mean like, even the GAS NOZZLE opening in your car tank is different!
Can we get a Donald Trump consensus here and say 'YOU'RE FIRED!' - geez, what a complete nincompoop. (the mechanic, that is)
I do hope you get this resolved in your favor and 'they' pay for this screw-up on their part..
SDLOM

<small>[ February 08, 2005, 11:31 PM: Message edited by: Sauron The Dark Lord ]</small>

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Sauron The Dark Lord:
<strong> DOH! 'They?' who is they? I think that 'THEY' need to pay for whatever repairs you require!
I'm sorry you're without wheels. Hopefully, you'll get them back like really soon.
Best of luck to you!
SDLOM
---- Double DOH! The mechanics put Diesel in your tank? How stoopit can one person ('they') get. I mean like, even the GAS NOZZLE opening in your car tank is different!
Can we get a Donald Trump consensus here and say 'YOU'RE FIRED!' - geez, what a complete nincompoop. (the mechanic, that is)
I do hope you get this resolved in your favor and 'they' pay for this screw-up on their part..
SDLOM </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">If self-service, this gets tough. Some places have a larger nozzle on Diesel pumps that won't fit into the filler neck of the standard unleaded gas fueled car.

Other places, use a standard gas nozzle, even on the diesel pump.

So you need to check the station you purchased the fuel from. It's possible they got a tank full of diesel and you are not the only one with the issue.

It's also possible that the person who fueled the car chose the wrong nozzle if they use a standard nozzle for their diesel pumps.

I'd get a sample of what was in the fuel tank for evidence, and get some pictures of the pumps at this gas station, especially if they don't sell diesel at all.

I hope for your sake, it wasn't YOU who pumped $20 worth of diesel into your car. That will be an expensive mistake.

Sorry,

T

we dont have self service in NJ

I pulled up to the regular unleaded pump and gas station attendant pumped 20$ into my car.

My son went there last night and of course they denied anything, so today I have to do the investigating

they do sell diesel at the station, maybe the truckload was put into the wrong tank, in which case there would be more people with same problem.

they barely speak english and im afraid Im not going to get anywhere with them

just got off phone with police station in town where I got gas

ther have been several of the same complaint..I have to go file a complaint in the police station and probably try to go thru small claims court to recover

Hi...

Can't resist posting - 12 gallons for $20? You know how much I get in the UK for $20?

About 2 gallons....

Sheeesh!

That's awful...my bud I know the last thing you need is MORE stress. Heck the last thing we people need posting on this board is more stress. In my mind's eye, I see Gomer Pyle saying "well goooollly. I got yet gas right her for ya. Good stuff too. We usually put this stuff in yer here 18 wheelers."

I'd definitely document and submit to both insurance and to the fraud division of bbb and to local police. That is wild!

I'd write to "car talk" the show on pbs radio and let them know what you experienced. They do all kinds of funny stuff on air but also give out great car info. I can't say that if I hadn't read your post that I'd know what to look for if I got "bad gas"...

I am up very very late. son's sick. Really sick.

went to the police, filed report and then I stopped at the gas station again.

Police officer who took report said the owner is very agreeable to reimburse for repairs, and he called station to find out if he was in.

I stopped by and talked to him and he was in fact OK about it. Tank was filled Fri nite and apparently the driver dumped the diesel fuel into the wrong underground tank. After the second complaint, the state came in and closed the gas station and it took them 2 days to make everything right.

I still have to pay up front and then submit the bill and insurance co will reimburse me (hopefully there wont be a problem there, and I really dont have 1500$ laying around)

Lucky me

I never heard this happen to anyone before <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="images/icons/mad.gif" />

still have to pay up front and then submit the bill and insurance co will reimburse me (hopefully there wont be a problem there, and I really dont have 1500$ laying around)


NO WAY!!! I would tell them you don't have the money- and it isn't your mistake- so Mr Gas Station Man or Mr Driver Man needs to pay it. Let the insurance company reimburse them. I would NOT get into all that runaround.

got my car back!!

runs great, I think I'll sell it now

LOL

Have a great weekend

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by sunrise1:
<strong> we dont have self service in NJ

I pulled up to the regular unleaded pump and gas station attendant pumped 20$ into my car.

My son went there last night and of course they denied anything, so today I have to do the investigating

they barely speak english and im afraid Im not going to get anywhere with them </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Ha! I sure know how that is - they PLAY stoopit and act like no matter how bad they screwed you up, 'Oh it's nothing.. blase blase...' yeah, whatever. But if it was something you did to them, they'll come kill you. Sucks. But that's the way those peeps are. It's times like this I think they ought to run them all out of the US - the ones who are UNETHICAL, that is. I'm not making a judgement on Foreigners, just the ones who have no Standards at all. If it were me who put the wrong gas in a customer's car, I'd apologize and 'make it right' with them.. Am I old fashioned, or is it coz I believe it's the RIGHT thing to do?
I'm sorry this happened to you - I know that dealing with repairs on your car can get to be a real pain sometimes..
SDLOM

we had a situation here in Florida last year, where there was MERCURY in the gas,,,,,hundreds of people had to have engines replaced,,,am praying you dont need that,,,,H